Sunday, June 24, 2007

Parathas for breakfast? Who has the time or the inclination for the work involved (cleaning and chopping the veggies, kneading the dough, rolling the parathas etc. etc) especially on a weekend morning? Certainly not me!Though I had heard that parathas can be rolled ahead of time and cooked/ fried just before serving them, I hadn't tried making them this way.So, yesterday I made the parathas and stored them between layers of wax paper.Today morning, we had ta-da parathas for breakfast.

'Thap' that is the sound of me slapping my forehead...why did I not try this earlier?They were good, so good.I used spigarello (an Italian cooking green related to broccoli and sometimes also called broccoli raab), but any any other cooking green, such as chard, kale, spinach, dandelion greens, or methi will work just as well.Sprigarello is a sturdy green which can handle quite a bit of seasoning; which explains the quantity of ajwain I used.A milder green like spinach will need a much lesser quantity.Garlic can be added as well; especially when if you don't plan to have the parathas for breakfast.Next time I'd like to make the parathas using toasted cumin and fennel seeds.

MethodHeat oil in a large kadhai (wok) , add ajwain, sesame, mirchi, turmeric, and salt.Cook for about a minute.Add the sugar and mix well.Add the cooking greens and the cilantro.Cook till the greens wilt and then turn off the heat.After the greens have cooled slightly add the flour and mix well.Adjust the salt and heat levels keeping in mind that we have yet to add the flour.Add water as needed to make a soft dough. Use more flour if needed.Let it rest for 10-15 minutes.Divide the dough into about 20 pieces.Roll the parathas and store them in a box, adding a piece of wax paper between parathas like this:Store the parathas in the fridge.When ready to make the parathas, heat a pan, add a touch of oil and cook both sides of the parathas till small brown dots/ spots appear.Serve immediately.Enjoy with dahi (yogurt), pickle; or both!

I'm sending these parathas to Trupti who is hosting WBB#12. The theme this month is Spice It Up.